A new year brings a new focus on many things in business and one trend predicted to emerge this year is the importance of recognising that employee experience is the key to both finding and retaining great staff. Let’s take a look at the trends which will emerge as pivotal in recruitment and HR in 2014.
- The war for talent increases
Here’s the dichotomy: online job ads are inundated with responses, yet nearly every employer we speak to tells us good talent is still very hard to find.
- Employee experience becomes all important
If 2013 was the year of Customer Experience, 2014 is shaping up as the year of Employee Experience. Great employee experience creates advocates for an organization, driving down recruitment and staff replacement costs. Staff stay longer and refer their friends leading to lower talent searching costs.
- Social Recruitment
Thanks to
LinkedIn, social recruitment is growing. Finding staff through social networks is becoming both an efficient and effective way to recruit.
LinkedIn just about owns the white collar professional market but other platforms, such as Workible, are now taking care of the non-executive market.
- Recruiting will become more mobile
As skilled marketers have always preached, to be able to get to the people you want, you need to get to where they are - and that’s on their phones. Another insight is that mobile apps will take the place of websites.
The power shift to employees
It’s no secret Generations X and Y are more informed and more discerning about the choices available to them. The war for talent coupled with more of these generations moving into the mainstream workforce means there will be a significant power shift from employer to employee.
Job seekers will be carefully screening their preferred companies to see who is going to give them what they want. Generations X and Y want fulfillment, a sense of belonging and want to enjoy what they’re doing.
- Internships become a career stepping stone
Ten years ago, internships were not something you heard a lot about but nowadays they’re becoming very mainstream. Universities actively promote internships as part of the learning experience and more and more companies are using interns to find the talent they need.
With internships becoming popular, don’t be surprised if there are some legislative or other initiatives to stop the exploitation of students as free labour. Those who do it right can find valuable employees. Those who exploit it can expect repercussions.
- Flexible work becomes an expectation not a benefit
Just three weeks ago I had a conversation with the CFO of a major retailer about the issues surrounding the growth of flexible working conditions. He said their experience is workers don’t only want flexibility, they are now expecting it, and providing this was now the number one staffing issue on the company’s agenda.
- Video interviews become the norm
For many of us older than 25, the thought of applying for jobs via video still makes us cringe. This however, like it or not, is going to become the norm. Video interviewing platforms are springing up everywhere and not only save time but also allow recruiters to see the person behind the resume. And with video on mobile devices, it’s a natural migration as we move to mobile recruitment.
- Further increases in part time, casual and contract
In the last two years alone, according to the ABS Labour Force Reports, the number of people in full time work has increased by 40,000 while the number of people in part time work has increased by a whopping 158,000.
A recent article by Gary Swart, the CEO of Odesk, says “the teams of the future will be like movie crews” - you get them when you need them - and Futurists agree that we’ll be moving from rigid full time roles to dynamic project based hiring.
About the author
Fiona Anson is the co-founder and director of Workible, a new mobile and social recruitment app for the flexible workforce. She has won the American Express Fastest Growing Business Award, Sydney Businesswoman of the Year and was a NSW Finalist for Telstra Businesswoman of the Year.
For more information visit
www.workible.com.au.
